VA CIO: Tablet Computers Could Transform Health Care

Tablet computers could transform the way the Veterans Affairs Department delivers medical care with evidence-based medicine that supports the best clinical practices, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker predicted Wednesday in his monthly media briefing.

The department kicked off a test of 1,000 Apple iPad tablet computers on Oct. 1 and eventually could deploy up to 100,000, backed by a strong demand from clinicians in the 152 VA hospitals, Baker said.

The first clinical application VA plans to field on the iPads is its Computerized Patient Record System, which will allow doctors moving from room to room throughout a hospital to access patient records from the tablets, providing quick and easy access to data...